JGR Dominance Continues Further With Another 1-2-3 Start

It's not uncommon for months-long pole streaks and near-streaks to show up in racing (Red Bull Racing essentially went on one that lasted four years not too long ago, after all), but usually they don't appear in NASCAR. Of course, an already-dominant three car team in a series where every additional car (So long as it's driven by someone who understands setups and communicates well) makes the team better doesn't usually add a fourth car for a veteran driver with a great feel for setting up and developing cars.

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But with the addition of Carl Edwards to JGR in February and the return of Kyle Busch to the team in June finally bringing Toyota's top team to full power, very little has stood in the way of absolute dominance for the team owned by the former NFL head coach. This time, Denny Hamlin lead the 1-2-3 over Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards. Better still, all six competitive Toyotas start in the top 13.

Two of those belong to Michael Waltrip Racing, a team that essentially has just 12 more races to live. The team's two cars start 4th and 9th, but it's heavily overshadowed by the news that team co-owner and chief financier Rob Kauffman will leave at the end of the season for Chip Ganassi Racing, and all signs point towards him taking Clint Bowyer and his 5 Hour Energy sponsorship with him. He and Waltrip announced earlier this week that the team will not run a full-time car in 2016, and with #55 sponsor Aaron's not under contract for that season, they likely won't run more than ten races.

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Outside of the Toyota camp, the biggest news in qualifying came when Tony Stewart's string of good starting positions came to an abrupt, harsh end. He'll start 40th tomorrow, and given the nature of the half-mile Bristol circuit, he could be a lap down well before the end of the first stint.

The famed Bristol Night Race goes green at 7:30 PM Eastern time tonight on the NBC Sports Network. With just Bristol, Richmond and Darlington left to decide the field for the second season of the reformatted 16 car Chase postseason, it will be one of the more important races of the season.